


I’m here

by animariri



Category: Naruto
Genre: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Freeform, F/M, POV First Person, Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 19:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12091377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animariri/pseuds/animariri
Summary: It’s been fifteen years since Neji died... And Tenten just spends a day normally in her shop waiting for customers to drop in so she won’t feel so alone.





	I’m here

> _Naruto said that it’s been fifteen years since the Great War. I don’t think that he’s lying, but is he really getting the counting right? I would trust him to do well with Shikamaru by his side but if someone would manage to fail despite that, it would be him._
> 
> _It doesn’t feel like it’s been fifteen years._

 

Tenten sighed as she leaned against the counter in her shop. All around her there were weapons and equipment necessary for missions, but it was only her inside.

“Is no one going to come by today either?”

 

The door opened.

 

“Tenten!” Sarada exclaimed cheerfully as she hurried inside and walked over to the wall that had the many types of shuriken and kunai.

 

“Sarada~” Tenten hurried around the counter and walked up to her most loyal customer – after Lee – and crouched next to her. “What are you looking for today?”

 

Looking down at Tenten who was now lower than her, Sarada giggled.

“I’m not a kid you know~”

 

“But you’re so tiny and cute still though~” Tenten reached up and pinched Sarada’s cheek, laughing.

 

> _At the time of when it happened I didn’t have any regrets. At that time and age there was nothing I wanted to do more but to save my comrades and loved ones. Some might say the price was high, but if you ask me I would say it was a small sacrifice for the greater good. I still think so._

> _But then why am I still here?_

Tenten waved as Sarada paid for her new kunai and then hurried out of the shop. It was the birthday present she had bought to herself with the money her grandparents had given her.

“Sakura is so lucky…” Tenten sighed as she sat down behind the counter again. She placed her chin in the palm of her hand and glanced at the photo that hung on the wall: Team Guy. Her eyes landed on a 13 year old Neji.

 

…

 

She sighed heavily and instead lay down with her forehead against her arm.

 

Neji watched Tenten as she practically slammed her head down to her arm in frustration. He swallowed but other than that his expression didn’t change.

> _I don’t have any regrets._

He walked closer to the counter and raised one hand, holding it above the back of her head.

 

> _Time has stopped for me; even if you would see me now I would still only be my 17-year-old self. My heart and mind are still only 17. I’m nothing like you or any of the others anymore, you have all moved on._

His hand was shaking as he carefully lowered it and the moment he was about to place it to the back of Tenten’s head, she sat up and his arm went right through her.

 

Neji felt how something in his chest pulled him down to his knees. Startled and shook, he stared at his hand.

 

> _Of course I can’t touch you._

“Is someone there?” Tenten asked, getting up to her feet as she looked around. She walked around the counter to stand in the middle of the room and then turned around. “Hello?”

 

Neji got up to his feet as he kept his eyes at her. There was no way she could sense him, he knew as much, but somehow he still couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

 

> _What am I hoping for? Even if you could see or even talk to me, it wouldn’t do any good. You need to move on._

A soft smile spread on Tenten’s lips as she folded her hands behind her back and turned around once more, her back turned to the spirit she couldn’t see.

“Maybe it’s Neji…” she said cheerfully, nodding shortly. “I hope it is…”

 

> _It’s me._

Neji’s lips moved but no sound came. Again he felt something pull him down, but this time he managed to stand up on his feet. He stumbled up to Tenten just as she turned around and for a split second, he was sure that their eyes met.

 

> _You can’t see me, but… Do you?_

There was no one in front of Tenten and that was the only reason to why she allowed tears to fill her eyes this way. Though it was with a smile on her lips that she dried her eyes and took a deep breath before walking back to the counter.

 

When Tenten walked straight through him, Neji hurried to turn around.

 

_“Tenten.”_

 

She stopped.

 

Neji looked at his teammate when she turned; again feeling as though their eyes met. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were still wet. Was she looking at him?

 

> _Can you see me? Do you want to see me? Do you hear me?_

Tenten looked at the empty area before her, trying to tell if there was anyone else in the room but as nothing caught her eye, she then again turned to head back to the counter.

 

> _Tenten._

She sat down again, bringing out a notepad and a pen.

> _I know that it’s a good thing that I can’t reach you, but I wish I could. Being free of my obligations in the real world has made me more selfish and demanding. Seeing you and hear you say my name even now, brings out a side of me I wish I didn’t know._

 

Neji walked closer to the counter again. As he stood opposite of it, Tenten lifted her face to look up – almost as if looking at him. She smiled.

 

> _Are you—_

“Neji,” Tenten said in a whisper, a low chuckle escaping her. On her notepad, she had written the current date and Neji’s name. “People say I’m imagining but…”

 

There was no one but her in the store.

 

“I feel you.”

 

> _It hurts._

Neji reached out a hand to the right of Tenten’s face, cupping it almost as if he was holding her cheek.

 

> _That smile is for me, isn’t it?_
> 
>  

She closed her eyes and tilted her head a bit to her left – the side at which he tried to touch her.

 

> _I—_

“I love you.”

 

_“—love you.”_

 

 


End file.
